Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Kickstart scheme placements have been (a) approved, (b) advertised and (c) started by young people by (i) nation, (ii) region and (iii) sector as of 31 March 2022.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of the 31st March 2022, around 160,000 Kickstart jobs have been started by young people. The last Kickstart jobs were started by young people on this date and we expect the number of starts to increase further as employers report commencement of employment.
We have previously published the number of jobs approved and advertised as of 31st January, here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-01-31/114956. At that point, over 235,000 jobs had been advertised and over 305,000 had been approved. Kickstart has now closed to employer applications and as of March, all approved jobs proceeding to the advertisement stage, have been advertised. As such, these totals will not increase further.
Below are tables listing the number of Kickstart jobs which have been made available and started by young people to date by geographical area of Great Britain and work sector. The figures used are correct as of the 31st March 2022 and these figures have been rounded according to departmental standards.
Jobs made available (advertised) and job starts quoted here include some unfunded Kickstart jobs. Also included in the Great Britain total are a small number of jobs made available (less than 100 in total) that have an unrecorded job location.
The number of approved jobs is defined as the number of jobs associated with approved applications recorded on the Kickstart application system on the date above. This total excludes approved jobs that have been withdrawn from the Kickstart Scheme by agreement with employers and gateways. This is generally because, over time, some previously approved jobs were removed where the employer chose not to follow up the application.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.
The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.
Table 1: Number of Kickstart total available jobs and job starts, Great Britain, by nation and region (figures rounded to nearest 100*)
Region / Nation Split | Total jobs made available | Total jobs started |
| (DATA RETAINED FROM 31/01/22) | (DATA EFFECTIVE 31/03/22) |
|
|
|
Total, Great Britain | 235,000 | 159,800 |
|
|
|
England | 204,000 | 137,600 |
East Midlands | 14,000 | 10,200 |
East of England | 18,000 | 11,600 |
London | 51,000 | 32,100 |
North East | 11,000 | 7,900 |
North West | 30,000 | 20,300 |
South East | 26,000 | 17,100 |
South West | 14,000 | 9,700 |
West Midlands | 21,000 | 15,400 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 19,000 | 13,400 |
Scotland | 19,000 | 14,000 |
Wales | 12,000 | 7,800 |
Table 2: Number of Kickstart total available jobs and job starts, Great Britain, by Sector (figures rounded to the nearest 10*)
Sector Split | Total jobs made available | Total jobs started |
| (DATA RETAINED FROM 31/01/22) | (DATA EFFECTIVE 31/03/22) |
Administration | 57,350 | 39,370 |
Animal Care | 1,610 | 1,300 |
Beauty & Wellbeing | 1,720 | 1,310 |
Business & Finance | 8,500 | 5,830 |
Computing Technology & Digital | 15,840 | 12,210 |
Construction & Trades | 7,230 | 5,100 |
Creative & Media | 20,990 | 16,480 |
Delivery & Storage | 6,380 | 4,370 |
Emergency & Uniform Services | 520 | 340 |
Engineering & Maintenance | 7,080 | 4,800 |
Environment & Land | 4,620 | 3,400 |
Government Services | 1,000 | 690 |
Healthcare | 6,140 | 3,350 |
Home Services | 1,560 | 890 |
Hospitality & Food | 26,380 | 13,780 |
Law & Legal | 650 | 510 |
Managerial | 960 | 650 |
Manufacturing | 6,430 | 4,360 |
Retail & Sales | 34,970 | 26,060 |
Science & Research | 990 | 770 |
Social Care | 4,740 | 2,580 |
Sports & Leisure | 5,920 | 4,030 |
Teaching & Education | 11,000 | 6,670 |
Transport | 900 | 460 |
Travel & Tourism | 1,110 | 570 |
* Due to rounding, sum of figures may not match declared total
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Kickstart Scheme placements have been (a) approved, (b) advertised and (c) started by young people by (i) nation, (ii) region and (iii) sector as of 15 March 2022.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of the 15th March 2022, over 152,000 Kickstart jobs have been started by young people. The last date a young person can start a Kickstart job is 31st March 2022.
We have previously published the number of jobs approved and advertised as of 31st January, here. At that point, over 235,000 jobs had been advertised and over 305,000 had been approved. Kickstart has now closed to employer applications and as of March, all approved jobs proceeding to the advertisement stage, have been advertised. As such, these totals will not increase but may decline as a result of vacancies being withdrawn or removed by the employer.
Below are tables listing the number of Kickstart jobs which have been made available and started by young people to date by geographical area of Great Britain and work sector. The figures used are correct as of the 15th March 2022 and these figures have been rounded according to departmental standards.
Jobs made available (advertised) and job starts quoted here include some unfunded Kickstart jobs. Also included in the Great Britain total are a small number of jobs made available (less than 100 in total) that have an unrecorded job location.
The number of approved jobs is defined as the number of jobs associated with approved applications recorded on the Kickstart application system on the date above. This total excludes approved jobs that have been withdrawn from the Kickstart Scheme by agreement with employers and gateways. This is generally because, over time, some previously approved jobs were removed where the employer chose not to follow up the application.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.
The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.
Table 1: Number of Kickstart total available jobs and job starts, Great Britain, by nation and region (figures rounded to nearest 1000*)
| Total jobs made available | Total jobs started |
Region / Nation Split | (DATA RETAINED FROM 31/01/22) | (DATA EFFECTIVE 15/03/22) |
|
|
|
Total, Great Britain | 235,000 | 152,000 |
|
|
|
England | 204,000 | 132,000 |
East Midlands | 14,000 | 10,000 |
East of England | 18,000 | 11,000 |
London | 51,000 | 33,000 |
North East | 11,000 | 7,000 |
North West | 30,000 | 19,000 |
South East | 26,000 | 16,000 |
South West | 14,000 | 9,000 |
West Midlands | 21,000 | 14,000 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 19,000 | 12,000 |
Scotland | 19,000 | 13,000 |
Wales | 12,000 | 7,000 |
Table 2: Number of Kickstart total available jobs and job starts, Great Britain, by Sector (figures rounded to the nearest 10*)
Sector Split | Total jobs made available | Total jobs started |
| (DATA RETAINED FROM 31/01/22) | (DATA EFFECTIVE 15/03/22) |
Administration | 57,350 | 37,500 |
Animal Care | 1,610 | 1,200 |
Beauty & Wellbeing | 1,720 | 1,300 |
Business & Finance | 8,500 | 5,600 |
Computing Technology & Digital | 15,840 | 11,800 |
Construction & Trades | 7,230 | 4,900 |
Creative & Media | 20,990 | 15,600 |
Delivery & Storage | 6,380 | 4,200 |
Emergency & Uniform Services | 520 | 300 |
Engineering & Maintenance | 7,080 | 4,600 |
Environment & Land | 4,620 | 3,200 |
Government Services | 1,000 | 600 |
Healthcare | 6,140 | 3,100 |
Home Services | 1,560 | 800 |
Hospitality & Food | 26,380 | 13,200 |
Law & Legal | 650 | 500 |
Managerial | 960 | 600 |
Manufacturing | 6,430 | 4,200 |
Retail & Sales | 34,970 | 24,900 |
Science & Research | 990 | 800 |
Social Care | 4,740 | 2,400 |
Sports & Leisure | 5,920 | 3,800 |
Teaching & Education | 11,000 | 6,300 |
Transport | 900 | 400 |
Travel & Tourism | 1,110 | 500 |
* Due to rounding, sum of figures may not match declared total
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of long-term youth unemployment in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry; and what (i) financial and (ii) other steps she is taking to tackle long-term youth unemployment in those areas.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The sample size of the Annual Population Survey is too small to provide robust estimates of the trends in long-term youth unemployed in the areas identified.
DWP offers significant support to unemployed people across Coventry to access employment opportunities through our network of Jobcentres. Our Work Coaches provide support on finding a job, help with retraining or skills advice, CV, job applications and access to the new vacancies, as well as signposting to our Jobhelp website.
The Youth Hub in Coventry continues to provide outreach support, which can be accessed by young people in Coventry at Coventry Jobshop in the City Centre. We have also partnered with employers in the Coventry area to deliver Sector Based Work Academy Programmes open to all age groups and length of unemployment. For longer term support we work with many local training providers and the Coventry City Council Jobshop to fill ‘Building Better Opportunities’ programmes for the longer term unemployed and those further from the labour market.
DWP is also currently working with West Midland Combined Authority to promote and fill Commonwealth Games 2022 opportunities, matching young people to employers linked to hospitality, security, customer service and the sports industry across the local area.
The Kickstart Scheme provided grant funded, six-month jobs with participating employers for 16-24 year olds on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. As of the 31st January 2022, in Great Britain over 130,000 Kickstart jobs have been started by young people and over 235,000 jobs have been made available for young people to apply to through the scheme. More recent statistics will be published in due course.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce unemployment rates across the West Midlands.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Throughout the pandemic, the UK Government has provided over £400 billion to support the economy, including funding for our Plan for Jobs. The Kickstart Scheme has enabled young people to move into employment, with many of these securing permanent jobs. Alongside this, the Restart Scheme offers a fresh start to those who have been unemployed for over 9 months. The scheme breaks down employment barriers that could potentially prevent jobseekers from finding work. In addition, to support those who may need extra help, we are delivering the following employability programmes; Job Entry Targeted Support, Intensive Personalised Employment Support and Work & Health Programme.
Way to Work is a campaign to help half a million job ready claimants into work by the end of June 2022. We are building on the success of Kickstart to work closely with employers and aim to move claimants into work quicker; through recruitment days, job fairs and work trials. We will be stepping up our expectations of claimants and taking a robust approach to ensure agreements made through the Claimant Commitments are adhered to.
In addition, our jobcentre teams are helping employers find the right people for their vacancies, particularly through the Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP), Skills Bootcamps, Apprenticeships and Traineeships. For example, the local team are working with the West Midlands Mayoral Authority to help equip people with the skills needed to fill vacancies for the upcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Across the West Midlands, Jobcentres work collaboratively with the National Career Service (NCS) and Further Education Colleges to provide careers information, advice, and guidance so that jobseekers can make informed decisions on learning, training, and work. Collaborating with partners such as the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), the seven West Midlands Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and local Chambers of Commerce, to progress our strategic aims to increase diversity in the workplace, promote Disability Confident to reduce the disability gap in the workplace and increase skills provision in those sectors that are experiencing labour shortages.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help people who lost their jobs during the covid-19 pandemic back into work.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to supporting everyone who has been affected by the unprecedented impact of COVID-19. We want everyone who can work to find a job, progress in work, and thrive in the labour market.
Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided over £400 billion to support the economy, including funding for the Plan for Jobs. The Kickstart scheme has provided over 130,000 young people with Kickstart jobs, with many of these securing permanent employment. Alongside this, the Restart Scheme offers a fresh start to those who have been unemployed for over 9 months. The scheme breaks down employment barriers that could potentially prevent jobseekers from finding work.
In January, we launched Way to Work, a national campaign to help half a million job ready claimants on Universal Credit into work by the end of June 2022. We are changing our approach with claimants to an A, B, C approach (Any Job, Better Job, Career) in recognition that the longer a claimant is out of work the harder it can be to find a job. We are building on the success of Kickstart to work more closely with employers to bring them into our jobcentres. We will work with employers to move claimants into work quicker, through recruitment days, job fairs and work trials.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to tackle skills shortages in the performing arts technical skills sector.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the creative sectors continue to grow and build back better from the pandemic, the government understands the importance of ensuring that the creative industries do not suffer from skills shortages, including the performing arts technical skills sector. That is why the government has supported initiatives to boost training and employment opportunities in these sectors, such as the industry-led Creative Careers Programme.
Throughout the pandemic, DCMS Ministers and officials have had, and continue to have, regular meetings and discussions with representatives of the theatre sector on a range of issues. The Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay has had a number of meetings with theatres, both one-to-one and collectively. In February, the Minister for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure held a creative apprentices roundtable with industry to mark apprenticeships week - this was attended by apprentices from the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre. We continue to involve the theatre sector in ongoing policy work.
At last year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced a new £7 million pilot fund to test ‘flexi-job’ apprenticeships, which will better suit the working practices of the creative industries and enable more young people to enter the workforce. This builds on the DCMS-funded ScreenSkills Apprenticeship Pilot with Netflix and Warner Media, relaunched last Summer with apprentices working across multiple productions and employers.
DCMS supports the industry-led Creative Careers Programme, which has to date showcased creative career pathways to over 115,000 pupils at over 1,500 schools across England, as well as the Department for Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme through which over 8,000 creative industry placements are now available to young people across the country.
DCMS is also leading on the development of a Creative Industries Sector Vision, due to be published in summer 2022, which will set out our vision for the sector in 2030 and a long-term strategy focused on promoting growth within the sector. This includes considering the skills, workforce and talent pipeline challenges and opportunities for the sector.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the theatre industry about skills and training opportunities in the performing arts technical skills sector.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the creative sectors continue to grow and build back better from the pandemic, the government understands the importance of ensuring that the creative industries do not suffer from skills shortages, including the performing arts technical skills sector. That is why the government has supported initiatives to boost training and employment opportunities in these sectors, such as the industry-led Creative Careers Programme.
Throughout the pandemic, DCMS Ministers and officials have had, and continue to have, regular meetings and discussions with representatives of the theatre sector on a range of issues. The Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay has had a number of meetings with theatres, both one-to-one and collectively. In February, the Minister for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure held a creative apprentices roundtable with industry to mark apprenticeships week - this was attended by apprentices from the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre. We continue to involve the theatre sector in ongoing policy work.
At last year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced a new £7 million pilot fund to test ‘flexi-job’ apprenticeships, which will better suit the working practices of the creative industries and enable more young people to enter the workforce. This builds on the DCMS-funded ScreenSkills Apprenticeship Pilot with Netflix and Warner Media, relaunched last Summer with apprentices working across multiple productions and employers.
DCMS supports the industry-led Creative Careers Programme, which has to date showcased creative career pathways to over 115,000 pupils at over 1,500 schools across England, as well as the Department for Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme through which over 8,000 creative industry placements are now available to young people across the country.
DCMS is also leading on the development of a Creative Industries Sector Vision, due to be published in summer 2022, which will set out our vision for the sector in 2030 and a long-term strategy focused on promoting growth within the sector. This includes considering the skills, workforce and talent pipeline challenges and opportunities for the sector.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to help ensure that appropriate job opportunities are available and accessible to young people in their local areas.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through Jobcentre Plus, DWP is helping young people to find the right support, education or training that will ultimately lead to sustained employment opportunities and career progression.
Core skills are fundamental in securing, retaining, and progressing in work. This Government has invested in apprenticeships, traineeships, vocational and basic skills training, alongside careers advice and Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs).
The Plan for Jobs provides a comprehensive package of support for young people, including the Youth Offer and Kickstart. The Kickstart scheme is dedicated to helping 16 to 24-year olds at risk of long-term unemployment develop their skills and experience through fully funded six-month jobs.
The DWP Youth Offer provides intensive work search support to young people aged 16 to 24 on Universal Credit and in the Intensive Work Search group. As part of this, Youth Hubs are co-located with partner organisations in a place-based approach. These co-delivered partnerships provide vital links within the community and offer a multitude of services, including opening up more employment opportunities within local areas.
Through our partnership network we are engaging with a broad spectrum of providers who are co-located including colleges, employers, and local authorities. Some of the national providers are National Careers Service, Princes Trust, Aspire, NHS and probation services. These organisations have access to skills and training programmes and can help with CV writing, job applications and interview preparation.
Our National Employer and Partnership team are helping to build local partnerships which are critical to delivery in this area. We also work closely with smaller organisations offering bespoke local work-related opportunities, enabling employers to support and engage their future workforce.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for the future of (1) the Kickstart programme, or (2) its successor scheme.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Department for Work and Pension’s Kickstart Scheme has now seen over 130,000 jobs started by young people. Young people can still start a Kickstart job until the 31st March and our priority remains to get as many young people who need one into a Kickstart job by that date.
1) The Department for Work and Pensions is monitoring and evaluating the Kickstart scheme throughout and after its implementation, and will continue to evaluate the longer term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month jobs. Fieldwork for the commissioned evaluation will continue until at least 2023 and we will publish the findings of the evaluation once complete.
2) Building on our experience of the Kickstart Scheme and the many new relationships we have established with employers, we have launched the Way to Work campaign. This is a new concerted national drive to help half a million people who are currently on benefits and job ready to move into jobs by the end of June 2022, supporting them to take their next step to building a more secure and prosperous future.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.
The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the progress of the Kickstart Scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of the 31st January 2022, over 130,000 Kickstart jobs have been started by young people and over 235,000 jobs have been made available for young people to apply to through the scheme.
The Department for Work and Pensions will be monitoring and evaluating the Kickstart scheme throughout and after its implementation and will continue to evaluate the longer-term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month jobs.
Jobs made available and starts quoted here include some unfunded Kickstart jobs.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.
The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.